A Second Chance
by Lisiny
Summary: Sakura's life downfalls after getting hit with unexpected betrayel, is she finished with the oppposite sex or can a certain someone change her mind? SasukeSakuraSai...
1. Chapter 1

A Second Chance

By Lisiny

Disclaimer: we don't own Naruto, but we wish we did.

A/n: Hey, guys! This is a story that our good friend Satachi came up with, and we luv her for it. Hope you guys like it. Please send us your views and comments, that's what keeps us going. Ok, with no further a due, here we go.

Chapter one: An early arrival

As the sun glistened its orangey – red rays against the wooden windowsill Sakura let out a sigh. The colour could not help but remind her of her roommate/ lover's Sharingan. Although he was on a three week mission and not at home the kunoichi still longed for her apartment. She missed her long baths and soft bed, but she missed Sasuke most of all.

"So is that all for your mission report?" Sakura averted her eyes to the fifth Hokage.

"Yes," she replied lazily.

"You can leave," the pink – haired woman turned and headed for the door. "Oh and Sakura, get something to eat."

"Right…"

The motion of walking caused Haruno Sakura to drift off into another world, where there were no crowds of Konoha citizens. She snapped out of her reverie by the welcomed smell of roasted beef, combined with a sweet and sour sauce. Sakura turned to the familiar stall and smiled. Maybe Tsunade had the right idea of getting a bit to eat. She had skipped breakfast and last nights dinner.

Stepping into Ichiraku Ramen, Sakura abruptly stopped upon seeing her extra team mate…Sai. He was staring deeply into his pool of chicken ramen and would move his chopsticks as if they were positioned wrongly.

Entering the stall Sakura put on her friendliest smile and sat down newt to her team mate.

"Hello Sai," she said, not expecting his eyes to widen at the sound of her voice.

"You're early," after saying that Sai's gaze fell on the pink-haired girl.

"Yip, I thought I'd get something to eat and then head on home. Lifting her hand to order Sakura noticed that the man's eyes filled with empathy.

A few minutes passed until Sakura got tired of just eating and no talking. "So…anything new happen while I was gone?"

Sai hesitated a little. Dropping his chopsticks and turning his whole body to face the kunoichi he took a deep breath, "Sakura, Sasuke is home early, well he came back two weeks ago but…"

"Why didn't you tell me!" She dropped her money on the counter and zoomed out not hearing the voice calling behind her.

Why didn't Tsunade inform her that he was back? She climbed the steps forgetting her exhaustion. Seeing Sasuke was her main priority and a bath was her second. Maybe she could convince him to take a bath with her…

Chuckling a little she reached her apartment and unlocked the door and entered. With a swift movement Sakura chucked her keys on the coffee table.

The pitter patter of noise from the shower made her feel all the more at home. She took the Jounin vest off and proceeded to the bedroom.

There was Uchiha Sasuke busy fluffing the pillows on their bed. He had no shirt on. His arm muscles moved when he ironed a crease on the bed with his hand. Sakura swallowed and moved towards him. Throwing her arms around him. Only after she heard the shower stop did she open her eyes.

Sasuke closed his eyes and tensed. He felt like an idiot, no he was a guilty idiot.

"Sasuke-kun, when is Sakura coming back?" a voice called from the bathroom. The female jounin dropped her arms. Staring at the back of the Uchiha's back she felt an over powering numbness.

"Sasuke – Kun, why aren't you answer-," the voice halted, the woman now stood in the bathroom's doorway. "S-Sakura?"

Sakura didn't know how, but she managed to push the words from her mouth.

"Hello Ino."

A/n: Well that's it so far! Hehe hope you guys enjoyed it. The other chapters will be longer. Waiting for your reviews :)

Ps: Sorry for making you guys wait for masquerade, we haven't forgotten about it. It will be updated very shortly. Ok well, bye for now. Luv ya guys.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: We have not forgotten about this story muwhahahahahahah! Thank you for your support!

Disclaimer for whole story: we dooooooooooooooooooo (not) own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 2: Getting involved 

Guiding the paintbrush across the page he let out a heavy sigh.

Sai lifted the brush and stared at his work. He crumpled the paper up and threw it behind him to where the other balls of rejected paper were. It was hard to on his own life after the pink-haired Kunoichi ran off. Sai was one of the few people who knew about Sasuke and Ino, he did not, however know when it had begun.

He vigorously ruffled his black hair and snatched another piece of white paper. As he dipped his brush in the inkpot, a timid knock came from his front door. Sai scowled and dropped the brush.

It was late.

Sai opened the door slowly, his eyes widened in surprise to find Sakura standing before him. Her hands clutching her skirt and her hand bent down.

"May I come in?" she asked a bit too loud.

"I'm not death ugly, but you may," he smiled, but it soon faded when she brushed past him and didn't reply.

After closing the door, Sakura took in a breath to speak. " Naruto, is still on a mission, " she paused and then continued, " I have no other place to go, I was wondering-"

"Fine", Sai said quickly, avoiding the subject of why she wanted to stay somewhere other than her and Sasuke's apartment.

"Do you have any Sake?"

Sai didn't know what to say, unless suggested that they go to Konoha Bar. Sakura agreed forcing a smile, which failed pitifully.

* * *

The walk was short and Sakura was in no mood to talk therefore causing the trip to be painfully quiet. 

Pushing the bar door open Sai let Sakura in first. The noise filled every corner of the place. A few Shinobi sat around spaced-out tables conversing over their latest mission. Some looked up and greeter Sakura as she past them, but the Kunoichi's only interest was the bar ahead. Rock Lee stood up, clutching Sai by the upper arm he asked, " Everything ok with Sakura-san?" Sai's dark eyes darted from Sakura – who was now ordering a drink- to Lee.

"She's just had a long day Lee-san." He said smiling and pulled away from the green beast of Konoha. Walking toward Sakura he heard her order a stronger drink.

"Maybe you should slow down Sakura," Sai grabbed her second drink and was received by a venomous glare. He let go of the glass so that she could continue he drinking crusade?

Sai opened his mouth to order, but was interrupted when two hands grabbed Sakura and turned her around.

" I was looking for you," Sakura squinted into Sasuke's dark eyes.

"Leave me alone, Sasuke-kun." She cringed at the suffix she had added to his name. She attempted to push him away, but his grip on her tightened.

"Sakura, I need to talk to you."

Sakura snorted, she wriggled, but he did not budge. Shutting her eys tightly she clenched her jaw. _Not now._

" I think you've done enough." Sasuke's hands were thrown off Sakura. He forced Sai, narrowing his eyes Sasuke scrunched his fist. Before Sai could dodge the punch the Uchih's hand was caught by cell seven's leader. Hatake Kakashi was holding Sasuke's hand with his own while his other hand held onto his infamous orange book.

"Sai, you'd better go after Sakura." Kakashi said. Sai noticed the woman exiting the bar and darted after her, not caring what Kakashi was telling Sasuke.

* * *

Sakura yanked at Sai's apartment door before realising it was locked and he had the key. 

"DAMMIT!" she screamed, falling to the floor she leaned her head against the door.

"Dammit," Sakura breathed out again. Her eyes burned as the tears slid down her cheeks onto her arms. This wasn't supposed to happen. The more she rubbed her cheeks dry the wetter they felt.

Sai stood a few feet away from Sakur. He swallowed and approached her. She looked up at him. No words were spoken between the two as they stared at each other. Suddenly Sakura jumped up.

Sai felt a pang in his heart when her arms encircled his waist. Standing, stunned it took a few minutes for him to react. His arms awkwardly moved to hug her back. Thinking there was nothing more important than the woman before him, Sai leaned his head against hers.

* * *

A/N: ok second chapter complete! We hope you guys enjoyed it plz let us know what you thought. Thanks for reading! 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: We do not own naruto

Chapter 3 : Cleaning

The chirping sound of birds reached his ears. Although the room was dark he knew it was morning. Sai sat up rubbing his tired eyes. He had not slept a wink since putting the pink haired Kunoichi in his bed. She was mildly intoxicated and depressed, which was why he had to carry her to his bedroom. He could not explain this kind of emotion to himself and was still baffled about the sensation that surprised him last night while hugging her.

As he grudgingly got up he had an annoying feeling to check on Sakura, but pushed it away by deciding to make breakfast. Opening the little fridge he found it empty and clicked his tongue. Sai wasn't one for cooking, in fact he had never hosted before and was completely blank on what to give a guest living in his house.

He had to go buy food, before Sakura woke up.

* * *

Sai concentrated on the path toward the food markets. So many thoughts plagued him and he did not know how to stop them from rushing through his mind. He knew he wasn't the right person for this situation and he cursed Naruto for being on a mission. Maybe when the blonde got back then he would take in Sakura and sort this mess out, giving Sai the peace and quiet he deserved.

Konoha's streets were still deserted with a few shinobi who did early morning shopping. Sai turned a corner and entered a vegetable market. The mixture of sweet musky greenery reached his nose and he found it quite relaxing. There was so much selection that his head spun with choice. Collecting what he wanted, Sai wandered toward the apples. His hand sprung back when he grabbed another hand instead an apple.

"Sorry" he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, good morning Sai-kun." A woman's voice rang through the isle.

"Ino… chan," he stared impassively at her.

" I hear Sakura is staying with you," she stated unsure if she should continue or not.

" And I guess you are staying with Sasuke?"

"No! It's not like you think. I would -"

"I knew before Sakura and I don't want to know anything else, Ino-chan. Would you excuse me?" he gave his infamous fake smile and walked past her ending their abrupt conversation.

* * *

Closing the front door behind him, a smell of cleaning detergent filled the air and the humming sound of the dishwasher destroyed the silence, he didn't even know he owned a dishwasher. Looking around his mouth gaped open and his eyes widened in shock. Everything was… clean.

He placed the parcels on top of the counter and scanned the room. His eyebrows knitted together when he heard a rhythmic swishing. Eliminating the idea that the shower was on, because the sound paused and then continued, he decided to investigate. As he pushed the door more open, Sai stood stunned. On the floor was Haruno Sakura scrubbing violently at the wall with a cleaning implement. Her teammate stepped gently forward, like one would approach a timid animal.

"Sakura, what are you doing?"

After a few more scrubs she answered, " the bathroom's dirty."

He frowned and stepped a little closer. " I bought food…"

She didn't answer, instead dipped the scrubber into the bucket of soap water and continued.

"Sakura," he sat on his haunches and observed her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, the bottom lip was clamped between her teeth in concentration and her cheeks were lined with tearstains.

The pink-haired woman yelped when she was lifted onto her feet. She spun around sharply and opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when he leaned in to hug her. She was so taken aback by his action that she pushed him away.

" I-I need to take a walk," she stuttered, rushing past him and out the front door.

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A/N: a very short chapter... thought we just needed to update this one, let us know what u think! 


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